I'm almost ready to start quilting my pieced together lap quilt. Hopefully, backing/binding today. It is quite large so it's going to be a challenge fitting it in my regular size machine!

My question: I'm thinking about using Stitch in the Ditch and would like to just stitch the straight lines around the objects in the quilt, which are pieced blocks.

I'm wondering, how far apart can stitching lines be to still allow the quilt to hold up well? I see all the pretty stippled quilts and wonder if that is for looks, or is it necessary to have seams that close together to hold the batting in place?

Thanks!

I use the setting that keep it all together, or i camset the stiches manual 1/4 to 1/16

It depends on what your batting says. Some can be quilted farther apart and some must be quilted closer

Depends on your batting. Look on the bag, or go online to the company that produces it. It will tell you how far apart you can quilt. It waries a lot, like from 2" to 10".

Do read the label on your batting. That is the only way to know. I have two different battings at the moment. One says a minimum of ten inches apart, and the other says a minimum of four. Big difference!

Ditto to the previous replies. Check the instructions on your batting. If you didn't get instructions with it, look at their web site.

Thanks everyone. It is Warm and Natural Cotton I think, but I don't have the label or know the weight. DH picked it up for me, I'll ask him if he remembers.

I think warm and natural is like 8". I like to make lines about 2" apart. No less because I like floppy quilts and it seems like closer together quilting makes it stiff.

the (density) of the quilting- how close you need to quilt your quilt--
is totally dependent on the batting you choose-(and your preferences)
the batting will tell you on the package if you need to quilt the quilt every 2" (very dense quilting) or up to 10" apart...and any number in between.
it is necessary to read the batting packages and choose one that meets the quilting you want to do.
warm and natural (or most batts with scrim) can have up to 10" between stitching lines--hobbs heirloom cotton batt has to be quilted at least every 2".

It does depend on the batting.